Rupert Campbell-Black is one of literature’s most notorious lotharios – and has won a new legion of fans thanks to Disney +’s adaptation of Jilly Cooper’s Rivals.
Now, the British author, 87, has revealed who exactly inspired the charming ex Olympian show jumper turned Tory MP character, played by His Dark Materials actor Alex Hassell in the series.
Speaking to the How To Fail podcast, Jilly confirmed she based the aristocrat – described in her raunchy 1988 novel as ‘the handsomest man in England’ – on Queen Camilla‘s ‘famously naughty’ ex husband, Andrew Parker Bowles.
The writer said former Army officer Parker Bowles, once dubbed ‘the lothario of London‘, provided at least some of the inspiration for the promiscuous character.
‘He’s been a great friend for a long time… so he’s very like Rupert. He’s beautiful and blond and stunning,’ said Jilly.
Camilla and Andrew Parker-Bowles dated on and off for several years before marrying at the Guards’ Chapel in 1973
Jilly Cooper has revealed who exactly inspired the charming ex Olympian show jumper turned Tory MP character, played by His Dark Materials actor Alex Hassell (pictured right) in the series. Pictured left, Andrew Parker Bowles in 1964
In her books, Campbell-Black is described as ‘well-constructed. Usually, men with such long legs had short bodies but Rupert, from the broad flat shoulders to the lean muscular hips and powerful thighs, seemed perfectly in proportion.’
The writer has always maintained she gleaned only the best bits from her various high-society pals, saying she was inspired by ‘their charm and glamour’ and that her character’s ‘naughty behaviour’ didn’t come from them.
However, it hasn’t gone unnoticed that not only was Parker Bowles once seen as a dashing figure, he was also something of a ladies man.
In The Duchess: The Untold Story (2017), one of Britain’s top royal authors Penny Junor claimed that ‘everyone who knew the Parker Bowles well was aware of Andrew’s serial unfaithfulness to Camilla’.
She alleged: ‘One night, at a dinner party, the woman sitting next to Andrew Parker Bowles turned to him and smiled. “I’m really hurt, Andrew,” she said teasingly. “I’m the only one of Camilla’s friends you haven’t made a pass at. What’s wrong with me?”
‘All too often, the women were indeed friends of his wife, and showed scant loyalty to her by succumbing to his charms.’
But the royal expert claimed that ‘Andrew’s affairs were just a fact of life and not something Camilla often spoke about’, noting how there ‘was never a tense atmosphere in the couple’s home’.
Indeed, Parker Bowles and Camilla, who divorced in 1995 after 22 years of marriage and two children: food writer Tom, 49 and Laura Lopes, 46, an artist, still remain good friends.
British army officer Andrew Parker Bowles (No. 2) playing polo in Kenya during a visit by Prince Charles, 1971
Princess Diana and Andrew Parker Bowles pictured in 1981
Brigadier Andrew Parker Bowles and Princess Anne pictured together at an event in Hyde Park
But according to Penny, Camilla was ‘bitterly hurt’ by her ex husband’s ‘infidelity’, which started even when they were just going out.
Then during their marriage, Andrew would apparently ‘never be short of opportunities to be unfaithful’ when spending his weekdays in London, where his regiment was based.
‘Today, looking back, [Parker Bowles] would admit that if blame were to be apportioned for the way his marriage ended, he’d feel obliged to take a full 80 per cent of it,’ wrote Penny.
British author Petronella Wyatt also previously discussed Parker Bowles’ alleged unfaithfulness with the Daily Mail in 2022.
She wrote: ‘For three decades, beginning in the late 1960s, Andrew was the lothario of London, and the name on everyone’s lips.
‘Tall, handsome and athletic, he was sophisticated, witty, and priapic. Unusually for a man of his boarding school-educated class, he enjoyed talking to women and they responded. Half the women who knew him were in love with him and the other half panted to meet him.’
Similar to how Campbell-Black is painted in Cooper’s novels, Wyatt reported one of Parker Bowles’ exes as saying: ‘”Andrew is like a drug. You can’t really get him out of your system.”‘
Meanwhile, the Marchioness of Lansdowne, one of Camilla’s Queen’s Companions, has said of Cooper’s muse: ‘Everybody loves Andrew. He’s a real charmer but he’s always terribly misbehaving.’
Andrew Parker Bowles and Camilla were married for 22 years and had two children, Tom and Laura, before they divorced in 1995
Camilla and Andrew – who is dating TV presenter Anne Robinson – have maintained a strong and close friendship – and he even had a special invitation on the guest list to the King’s Coronation
Once, regarded as something of a ladies man, Parker Bowles had a brief fling with Princess Anne before marrying Camilla. The pair, pictured on Derby Day at Epsom, remain great friends
Known as ‘The Brigadier’ in reference to his former career as an army officer who served with the Blues and Royals and was awarded a Queen’s Commendation for Bravery in Zimbabwe, Parker Bowles, now 84, has always batted away the more exaggerated stories of his bedroom conquests.
Parker Bowles first met Camilla in the late 1960s and they dated on and off for several years before marrying in 1973.
Having divorced in 1995, Parker Bowles was a guest at Charles and Camilla’s wedding in April 2005, attending their service of blessing at St George’s Chapel, Windsor.
The two are still the friendliest of exes, with the King’s wife, 77, said to still be ‘joined at the hip’ to the former army brigadier – despite infidelity on both sides during their 22-year marriage.
Camilla and Andrew – who is dating TV presenter Anne Robinson – have maintained a strong and close friendship – and he even had a special invitation on the guest list to the King’s Coronation.
Their firm alliance comes despite a turbulent marriage spanning the two decades in which they welcomed their two children, but both committed infidelities.
Camilla was famously Charles’s ‘mistress’ during her marriage to Andrew, while the latter is described by friends as having been ‘very naughty with women’ throughout.
But it seems any differences have been put aside as the pair are ‘joined at the hip’, as one insider previously put it – claiming they are constantly in touch and make a great team.
Camilla was famously Charles’s ‘mistress’ during her marriage to Andrew, while the latter is described by friends as having been ‘very naughty with women’ throughout
Andrew (pictured) and Camilla divorced in 1995, saying in a statement that ‘throughout our marriage we have always tended to follow rather different interests, but in recent years we have led completely separate lives.’
‘They are joined at the hip,’ according to a friend. ‘He arranges so much for her. They have lunch together the whole time. He’s right in there. He was always, and still is, Camilla’s co-conspirator.’
Andrew and Camilla divorced in 1995, saying in a statement that ‘throughout our marriage we have always tended to follow rather different interests, but in recent years we have led completely separate lives.’
The following year, he married his long-term mistress Rosemary Pitman. They were together until Rosemary passed away in 2010 of cancer, aged 69. At the time of her death it was reported that Camilla was ‘deeply saddened’ by the news.
Even before his marriage to Camilla, Parker Bowles has moved in royal circles for decades; as a 13-year-old, he served as a page to Lord Simonds, then the Lord High Chancellor, at the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II.
‘My mother was a good friend of the Duke of Norfolk,’ he recalled. ‘The Lord Chancellor had no children so Bernard Norfolk suggested me to Lord Simonds. I have to say that he was the nicest man alive and gave me a very nice set of cufflinks.’
He described a sword fight during the dress rehearsal, saying: ‘All the pages had these little swords. If a group of bored small boys all have swords, you know what’s going to happen.’
Prior to marrying Camilla, he had a brief fling with Princess Anne, but his Catholicism is said to have dampened the prospects of marriage. They remain great friends, however, and she later named him godfather to her daughter Zara.
He also played polo on the same team as Charles when both men were young and rode in the Grand National in 1969, coming 11th.
Andrew Parker Bowles and Queen Camilla at their son’s book launch in September 2024
Pictured at the Cheltenham Festival in 2020, Andrew and Camilla remain close friends. One friend described them as ‘joined at the hip’
The pair, who were married for more than two decades, have two children; food critic and writer Tom Parker Bowles and Laura Lopes
Released earlier this month, the highly-anticipated Disney+ adaptation of Cooper’s 1988 bonkbuster Rivals won over a whole new audience to the author’s literary talents.
The story is set in 1986 and follows the cut throat world of television, including the tense rivalry between polo-loving lothario Campbell-Black (Alex Hassell) and Lord Tony Baddingham (David Tennant).
During a series of parties and luncheons in Lord Baddingham’s country pile, steamy affairs and star-crossed yearnings are explored.
Some of those watching took to social media to rave about the racy scenes in the show, including a fully nude tennis match featuring Cooper’s most famous cad Campbell-Black and Emily Atack‘s Sarah Stratton.
Alex Hassell plays the role of dashing ex-Olympian, Member of Parliament and dangerously charismatic Rupert Campbell-Black
One viewer was lost for words, simply declaring: ‘THE NAKED TENNIS SCENE!’
Others said they were hooked on the show by the opening scene, explaining: ‘I was completely hooked the moment RCB walks out the lavatory on the Concorde and struts down the aisle to the sound of “Addicted to Love”. Just perfect.’
Another social media user joked they were watching Rivals for ‘the plot’, alongside shirtless pictures of Aidan Turner and Hassell.
Most agreed that the Disney+ original was ‘binge-able’. One said: ‘I don’t normally binge watch, but I just finished Rivals. It’s SO good and I want more.’